The point-of-care IT solution that benefits the POCC and the patient

Point-of-care IT solution supports the management of operators and sample data

With the responsibility of managing clinical laboratory and point-of-care testing (POCT), Dr. Astrid Petersmann at the Greifswald University Hospital has the support of her IT solutions to keep things running smoothly.

To manage POCT at the hospital, Dr. Petersmann asserts that the following elements are valuable:

Managing POC operators and their competencies and being notified on issues
Seeing an overview of both Radiometer and non-Radiometer devices
Matching the test results to the right patient

Dr. Petersmann and her colleague, Dr. Sven-Olaf Kuhn, talk about the point-of-care testing experience at the hospital.

Curious about how the POCT set-up benefits Dr. Petersmann? Watch the video to find out. Continue reading the story below.

About the hospital

Greifswald University Hospital

ABL90 FLEX, AQT90 FLEX, AQURE, 1st Automatic

A maximum-care facility

ICU, ED and every medical department necessary to be a maximum-care hospital

Roughly 850 beds

Contact: Dr. Astrid Petersmann, Assistant Director and Senior Physician

With regard to point-of-care testing it’s very important to me that products are compatible with one another, that the user is assisted in handling them, but that they also account for our analytical requirements from the lab

- Dr. Petersmann, Assistant Director and Senior Physician

Essentials for the POC IT solution

Three things are essential for Dr. Petersmann:

Ensuring only trained nurses perform POCT
Monitoring of analyzers in a single set-up
Ruling out patient-sample mix-ups

A solution that supports the three priorities would be a huge benefit to the hospital and its patients.

Dr. Petersmann further discussed features that would be relevant for POCT. These features include connectivity to non-Radiometer analyzers, such as glucometers and coagulation devices.

We use Radiometer to monitor point-of-care testing. It’s such an important tool for us because we can connect it to a wide array of devices, from blood gas analyzers or troponin testing via the AQT90 FLEX, to devices from other vendors, like glucometers and devices that measure coagulation. It is all brought together in one overview and we can see everything at a glance, even if the equipment comes from different companies.

- Dr. Petersmann, Assistant Director and Senior Physician

A more proactive approach to managing point-of-care testing

Dr. Petersmann has positive words for AQURE, the POC IT solution used at the hospital. AQURE is able to fulfill the three priorities Dr. Petersmann has for a POC IT solution.

She further explains how “training is very much an essential element of POCT. You have to teach people whose focus is on the patients, but who weren't primarily trained in lab testing during their studies.”

How can training operators be valuable in point-of-care testing?

Dr. Petersmann says that “Via training, we must provide [operators] with the tools they need to quickly and reliably take measurements, so they can continue caring for patients and carry out their original task satisfactorily.”

AQURE’s e-learning platform also makes it easy to maintain operator competencies. From a central point, the POCC can manage operators by granting them access to analyzers and monitoring their competency levels.

AQURE also helps get the right results at the right place and time.

With the integrated solution called 1st Automatic, the blood sample, operator and patient data are scanned and linked together. This ensures that positive patient identification is established.

“Product compatibility makes it possible to reliably avoid mixing up patients by linking the sample and the patient directly at the patient's bedside,” says Dr. Petersmann. “Then it can be analyzed and the results directly transferred to the patient's electronic record.”

When AQURE sends the results to the Hospital Information System/Laboratory Information System, Dr. Kuhn and his team receive the results and can make a diagnosis based on them.